company press release on 1 trial patient

Just issued.

Australian healthcare company Prima BioMed Ltd (ASX: PRR) (Prima) is pleased to announce that it has commenced patient enrollment into CANVAS (CANcer VAccine Study), its major late-stage clinical trial for the CVacTM ovarian cancer therapy vaccine.

Highlights
• Prima BioMed has confirmed that the first patient has been enrolled in CANVAS (CANcer VAccine Study), its pivotal clinical trial for the CVacTM ovarian cancer therapy vaccine.
• This represents a key major milestone in the development timeline for the CVacTM vaccine; the first patient was recruited in the United States.
• CANVAS is an 800 patient trial which will be conducted across 150 centres in 22 countries in Europe, Australasia and the US.
• CANVAS aims to establish that CVacTM is able to;
o definitively extend the time in remission after surgery and chemotherapy
o extend overall life expectancy
o improve quality of life for patients
o assess pharmacoeconomic parameters
• Prima expects to ramp-up enrollment through sites in Europe, Australasia and the US through 2012; patient enrollment into the study is expected to be complete within 2 years or less.

Prima BioMed chief executive officer Martin Rogers said: “We are excited to have commenced patient enrollment for our major CVacTM trial. This represents a significant milestone in CVacTM’s development timeline to date. The ability to embark on such a large scale study across multiple sites in different continents is a testament to the commitment and expertise of the Prima team, and also for the potential for CVacTM to provide a viable, commercially available treatment option for ovarian cancer patients globally.”